MERCEDES-AMG GETS ADAC GT MASTERS MOST WEEKEND STARTED WITH BEST TIME

Superb start to first day of the ADAC GT Masters at Most with four brands occupying the top four positions. Jeroen Bleekemolen (37, NL, Team Zakspeed BKK Mobil Oil Racing) set the pace in first practice in a Mercedes-AMG. He was followed home by drivers in Porsche, Audi and Lamborghini sports cars.

With a time of 1:31.628 minutes, sports car veteran Bleekemolen took the lead in the closing stages of the one-hour session, in which the rankings were thoroughly shaken up once again. “We spent two days testing here in Most last week after really struggling in the season opener at Oschersleben,” said Bleekemolen, who shares the Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Jimmy Eriksson (28, S). “We posted quite a few laps and worked a lot on set-up. The car drove well right from the start. We’ve made huge progress. I hope it continues.”

The Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Adrien de Leener (29, B) and Matteo Cairoli (22, I, both Küs Team75 Bernhard) finished second with a gap of 0.213 seconds on the track which has been almost completely resurfaced recently. Audi drivers Patric Niederhauser (27, CH) and Kelvin van der Linde (22, ZA, both HCB-Rutronik Racing) were third with a time of 1:31.852 minutes. P4 went to the Lamborghini pairing of Rolf Ineichen (40, CH) and Franck Perera (34, F, both Orange1 by GRT Grasser) with a deficit of 0.301 seconds. Ricardo Feller (18, CH) and Dries Vanthoor (21, B, both Montaplast by Land-Motorsport) completed the Top Five with a 1:31.985. Vanthoor had led with best time on a number of occasions and had been at the top of the timesheet for most of the session.

Second round of PS on Air

The second round of ‘PS on Air: The ADAC GT Masters talk show’ will get under way this weekend in Most following a successful premiere during the Oschersleben season opener. Presenter Patrick Simon will meet Audi driver Markus Winkelhock (38, GER, BWT Mücke Motorsport) and other guests for a chat in the paddock at the Czech racetrack from 7 pm onwards on Saturday. The get-together will be broadcast live on youtube.com/adac, on the ADAC GT Masters Facebook channel and on Patrick Simon’s youtube channel, youtube.com/Patsimon75.